CNS photo/Jerome Favre, EPA Legendary Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian, pictured in an undated photo.
By Matthew Davis Catholic News Service
PAUL, Minn. — Though not a Catholic himself, legendary University of Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian had a notable respect for the school’s Catholic faith as well as the Fighting Irish’s gridiron tradition.
“There was always an underlying spirituality to whatever happened at Notre Dame,” Parseghian told the National Catholic Register in 2013. “That was one of the main reasons I enjoyed being there so much.”
Parseghian died Aug. 2 at age 94. He led the Irish in the 1960s and 1970s to a 95-17-4 record and national titles in 1966 and 1973. He posted winning seasons in all 11 years, which included five major bowl game wins with the Catholic university in South Bend, Indiana.
An afternoon Mass to celebrate the life of Parseghian was to be celebrated Aug. 6, the feast of the Transfiguration, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame with the university’s president, Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, as the main celebrant.
Following Mass, family members and former players and colleagues of the late coach were to speak at memorial celebration at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
Academic standards remained high during Parseghian’s tenure, something many powerhouse college football programs skirted in the second half of the 1900s to get top talent on the field.
“The coaching staff knew that Notre Dame was first and foremost an institution of higher learning,” Parseghian told the National Catholic Register. “The central purpose of attending the school was to become educated in a specific discipline. Football was strictly secondary.”
A secondary priority turned out well in returning Notre Dame to gridiron glory. The Irish won their first national title since 1949.